Japanese American Incarceration Facts

PRECIS

During World War II the U.S. Government forcibly removed over 120,000
Japanese Americans from the Pacific Coast. These individuals, two-thirds
of them U.S. citizens, were sent to ten concentration camps built throughout
the western interior of the United States. The Japanese Americans of Hawaii
were not forcibly removed because they were such a large proportion of
the territory population.

INITIAL AUTHORIZATION

Executive Order 9066, February 19, 1942, authorized the military to
exclude any persons from military areas without trial or hearings.
Executive Order 9012, March 18, 1942, established the War Relocation Authority
(WRA) which administered the concentration camps.

AGENCIES INVOLVED IN INCARCERATION

Western Defense Command was an army command area consisting of eight
western states.
Wartime Civil Control Administration (WCCA) was responsible for the "assembly
centers" evacuation.
War Relocation Authority (WRA) ran the concentration camps.

SUPREME COURT DECISIONS

Hirabayashi v. United States (1943) upheld the legality of using racial
criteria in the military's curfew order.
Korematsu v. United States (1943) upheld the constitutionality of the military
detention process.
Ex Parte Endo (1944) found that the WRA could not detain U.S. citizens
who were shown to be loyal, effectively ending incarceration.

"ASSEMBLY CENTER" LOCATIONS AND DATES OF OPERATION (1942)

These 16 centers, run by the U.S. Army, were where Japanese Americans
were sent in preparation for eventual removal from the Pacific Coast.

Puyallup, WA (4/28 - 9/12)

Marysville, CA (5/8 - 06/29)

Tanforan, CA (4/28 - 10/13)

Turlock, CA (4/30 - 8/12)

Salinas, CA (4/27 - 7/4)

Tulare, CA (4/20 - 9/4)

Pomona, CA (5/7 - 8/24)

Manzanar, CA (3/21 - 6/2)

Portland, OR (5/2 - 9/10)

Sacramento, CA (5/6 - 6/26)

Stockton, CA (5/10 - 10/17)

Merced, CA (5/6 - 9/15)

Fresno, CA (5/6 - 10/30)

Santa Anita, CA (3/27 - 10/27)

Mayer, AZ (5/7 - 6/2)

Pinedale, CA (5/7 -7/23)

CONCENTRATION CAMP LOCATIONS AND DATES OF OPERATION

The 10 concentration camps were where Japanese Americans were housed
behind barbed wire and watched over by armed guards. The camps were run
by the WRA.

Central Utah (Topaz, UT) (9/11/42 - 10/31/45)

Colorado River (Poston, AZ) (5/8/42 - 11/28/45)

Gila River (Rivers, AZ) (7/20/42 - 11/10/45)

Granada (Amache, CO) (8/27/42 - 10/15/45)

Heart Mountain, WY (8/12/42 - 11/10/45)

Jerome (Denson, AR) (10/6/42 - 6/30/44)

Manzanar, CA (6/1/42 - 11/21/45)

Minidoka (Hunt, ID) (8/10/42 - 10/28/45)

Rohwer, AR (9/18/42 - 11/30/45)

Tule Lake (Newell, CA) (5/27/42 - 3/20/46)

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CAMPS

Internees from the internment camps that the WRA labeled as
"trouble-makers"
and who were not U.S. citizens were placed in these camps.

Santa Fe, NM

Bismarck, ND

Crystal City, TX

Missoula, MT

CITIZEN ISOLATION CAMPS

Internees from the internment camps that the WRA labeled as "trouble-makers"
and who were U.S. citizens were sent to these camps.

Moab, UT

Leupp, AZ

OTHER CENTERS

Seagoville, TX

Stringtown, OK

Assembly Inn, Montreat, NC

Fort Sill, OK

Tulahoma, TN

Fort Livingston, Alexandria, LA

Fort Lincoln, ND

Fort Meade, MD

Fort Richardson, AR

HAWAII DETENTION CAMPS

Sand Island (1942-43)

Honouliuli (1943-45)

Maui (1942-43)

Kauai (1942-44)

Hawaii (1942-44)

Molokai (1942)

Lanai (1942)

REPARATIONS AND REDRESS

Japanese American Evacuation Claims Act of 1948 paid a total of $38
million, less than 10 cents for every dollar lost.
In 1983 the Commission on the Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians
published Personal Justice Denied which recommends compensating
all living victims of the incarceration.
Civil Liberties Act of 1988 mandated a formal government apology for the
internment and a payment to all living inmates.